Movie Review

Film Review: A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (2013): Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney

Bruce Willis Jai Courtney A Good Day to Die Hard

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) Film Review, a movie directed by John Moore and starring Bruce WillisJai CourtneyPatrick StewartCole Hauser, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Mary Elizabeth WinsteadAmaury NolascoAksel HennieSebastian KochAnne Vyalitsyna, Pasha D. Lychnikoff, Yuliya Snigir, and Attila Árpa.

Plot Synopsis

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The promoted storyline for the movie was that John McClane (Bruce Willis) would be facing his greatest challenge. John went to Moscow to rescue his son Jack McClane (Jai Courtney), who was sent to prison due to some criminal act.

Film Review

A Good Day to Die Hard is an action and adventure movie for the audience that loves thrills.

After a few realizations, John McClane did what he does best (after the first Die Hard ended the originality of the franchise) – kill a bunch of bad guys.

At a particular point, any long-term franchise starts to fall into the cinematic sphere of self-parody. Somehow The Fast and the Furious franchise has avoided this comical and chaotic pitfall. The fifth installment of the Die Hard franchise does not. The combination of thin characters, murky filming, thin story, terrible dialogue, cartoonish stunts and violence, and its spastic nature, together with the very title of the film – A Good Day to Die Hard – all indicate the existence of a headstone on what made the original film a classic.

The villains in A Good Day to Die Hard are nothing more than nicknames with guns, a gaggle of Russian actors used poorly. The character of Komarov (Sebastian Koch) seemed to be the sole character in the entire film that was given a shred of depth whereas Irina (Yuliya Snigir) was portrayed as a femme fatale on equal footing with her male counter-parts.

Director John Moore is popularly known as the maker of B-movies. Moore shot major sections of A Good Day to Die Hard tightly on actors’ faces, employed handheld cameras to shoot several of the action sequences as well as additional scenes throughout the movie. For action fans, prepare to watch some “shaky cam” antics à la Cloverfield.

The viewer will also find some bad and laughable slow-motion moments in A Good Day to Die Hard, showcasing that the McClanes are capable of acts commonly confined to superhero films. As soon as Bruce Willis uttered John McClane’s trademark phrases, the action in the movie returned to the shores of reality, a calming and familiar balm on a sea of escalating CGI stunts. There was still carnage on a visceral level but apart from some cool moments, A Good Day to Die Hard was obnoxious and loud rather than entertaining.

Adding to its deleterious trappings was a huge borrowing of narrative and visual cues by screenwriter Skip Woods and John Moore from other Die Hard movies. Moore might have intended to pay homage to the Die Hard franchise with these elements but their presence (in a low-caliber film) turned them into self-parody. As a promotional video, Die Hard 5 (A Good Day to Die Hard) managed to showcase some of the best attributes of Die Hard 1-4.

If it was not for the presence Die Hard in this film’s title and the branding it bestows, this film’s attractiveness to action fans – irrespective of critical assessment – would be small.  The lead actor and the franchise’s name were the enticements to view this film. A Good Day to Die Hard was a unique case where franchise fans might not welcome the latest installment.

Rating: ?/10

Author’s Bio

Daniel Thompson is a movie buff. His blog is a great source of the latest movie review. For watching latest movies on TV he recommends opting for DISH Network program packages that bring you some premium entertainment networks like HBO, Showtime and Cinemax free for the first 3 months of agreement.

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